JOSEPHINE MCMONAGLE, CATHY BROWN AND EILEEN GALLAGHER -V- JACKIE MULLAN T/A JACKIE MULLAN'S BAR AND MGM CATERING

Londonderry District Court
8 September 2003
Judge Keegan

These proceedings arose out of an incident which occurred on 1 December 1998 when the plaintiffs alleged that they sustained food poisoning as a result of eating at Jackie Mullan's Bar. The second named defendant took over conduct from the first named defendant prior to hearing. Although the plaintiffs had ordered different meals, they had tasted each other's food and each meal was accompanied with coleslaw.

Within 2 hours of eating the meal each of the plaintiffs felt ill, experiencing severe tummy cramps, diarrhoea and nausea. Ms McMonagle was in bed for one day and was unable to do her normal housework for two days following the meal. Ms Brown was forced to miss a day off work and believed she did not fully recover from the illness for some ten days. Ms Gallagher was bedridden for 5 days following the incident, as the food poisoning had exacerbated a pre-existing condition. She was off work for 3 weeks. Each of the plaintiffs made a full recovery from the food poisoning

The caterer, Mr George Deeney of MGM Catering, confirmed that he had worked in the catering trade for a considerable number of years and had never been involved in any case of food poisoning. He stated that he only became aware of the complaint some 3 days following the alleged incident when Ms McMonagle had returned to the bar where Mr Mullan had offered her a full refund. Mr Deeney had apologised to the plaintiff at this stage though he stated that this was merely an act of courtesy rather than an admission of fault.

On the balance of probabilities Judge Keegan felt that the plaintiffs had sustained food poisoning as a result of eating at Jackie Mullan's Bar. He commented that each meal had been accompanied by coleslaw and that this, being the common factor, was most likely to have caused the plaintiffs' food poisoning. The judge awarded the sum of £1000 to Josephine McMonagle, £1,500 to Catherine Brown and £1,500 to Ellen Gallagher.